The Hidden Stair
by Dragon Knight Reina
Summary: AU. If you step on a thirteenth stair on the staircase in front of the dorms, then the resident fox spirit will grant your wish. Desperate to beat his best friend and rival, Tokiya decides that it couldn't hurt to try it out. But don't wishes normally come with a price? WARNING: Character death(s)


_So... I watched a Korean movie called The Wishing Stairs and thought of this idea. In all honesty, it wasn't the greatest movie, but it was an interesting premise!  
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**_Disclaimer: I do not own Uta no Prince-sama, The Wishing Stairs, or anything else that inspired this story. _**

**_Other notes: AU(ish); setting is similar to the school setting that the series starts with._**

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><p>"Tokiya, Tokiya!"<p>

Annoyed, Tokiya looked up from his book towards his redheaded roommate. It had been a long day at school, and all he wanted to do was relax for a few minutes. That seemed impossible with Otoya around, though.

"Are you coming to eat with us?" Otoya asked, in his usual cheerful tone.

"I told you. No," Tokiya replied, in his usual cold tone.

It wasn't that he disliked Otoya or anything. Nothing like that. In fact, Otoya was probably the best friend he ever had. It was just that he wanted his quiet time for a bit.

"C'mon, it'll do you good to get out of the room!" Otoya insisted as he approached. "Please? It'll be more fun with you around!"

"No," Tokiya repeated. "It has been a long day, Otoya. Please leave me alone."

"I could," Otoya replied, "…But I don't want to! Please, Tokiya? Please, please, please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top? I'll leave you alone for the rest of the night if you do!"

"Really?" It was too good of an offer to be true. "You'll leave me alone for the rest of the night?"

"Really, really! I'll pinky swear it!"

Tokiya rolled his eyes. "I don't need you to do that, I just need you to keep your word. Why do you want me to go so badly, anyway?"

"No reason, I just think it would be more fun if you did!"

Tokiya sighed heavily. There wasn't even a reason for him to be there, yet Otoya stubbornly kept insisting. Normally, it wasn't a good idea to give into children's whims, but the idea of a quiet room all night was too enticing to pass up.

Dinner lasted for quite a bit. Otoya and Syo played pranks on Tokiya, which irritated him. Ren would verbally tease him, which irritated him. Natsuki would start going off on various tangents, throwing any hopes of a normal conversation out the window, which irritated him. Cecil didn't really know what anything was on the menu, and became 'that person' that had to order something random and then cringe in disgust when it turned out to be something unpalatable, which irritated him. At least Masato didn't add to the insanity.

"That was fun, don't you think? See, I told you it would be more fun with you!" Otoya said as the two made their way back to their room.

Tokiya huffed a bit. "That was just because I was the butt-end of all your pranks."

"We just wanted you involved, Tokiya! You seem kinda down lately," Otoya said, his tone changing from cheerful to serious. "We got you to smile a bit, right?"

Tokiya smiled slightly in response. "I suppose. Thank you for that."

It was true. As insane as dinner was, it was somewhat… fun. Lately, he had been stressed out, mostly from the upcoming graduation audition. Rather, the audition's audition. For some reason, the school decided that only _one_ team would pass the graduation audition this year, so they were narrowing down all who would participate in the final audition to graduate by having an audition for the audition. The winning ten would move on to the graduation audition, and the first three places would get prizes.

But the prizes didn't matter. Winning did.

"You still look bummed," Otoya said, opening the door to their room. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine. Worry about yourself," Tokiya replied. He sat down in his desk chair. "The upcoming audition isn't too far away. Aren't you worried about passing it?"

"Well, yeah," Otoya replied with a laugh, "Of course! Only one team's gonna pass, so it'll be nerve-wracking, but Haruka and me will definitely win! Sorry, Tokiya!"

Tokiya thought for a moment. "Haruka…? Since when did you call her that? You always called her Nanami."

Otoya turned bright red. "I-I call her that b-because that's her name! Sticking to just her family name seems cold, don't you think? We've known each other almost the whole year now!"

"You don't need to get so worked up. I was just curious."

"I wasn't getting worked up! I was just kinda saying. Um, um, hey! Bath time!" Within seconds, Otoya disappeared into the bathroom, apparently done talking for the night.

A tinge of jealousy tugged on Tokiya's heart. Somehow, it felt like everything that he wanted in life… Otoya already had.

A cheerful, social nature.

A voice filled with passion.

Good, loyal friends.

And the one girl in the school that he liked the most.

It was funny how things ended up. Of course he would end up liking the one girl that Otoya also liked. Of course Otoya would be the one to team up with her. Of course Otoya would be the one to win her heart.

Tokiya shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. There was no point in dwelling on his jealousy. There was no point in bringing it up to Otoya and talking about it. There would be nothing to talk about. He had to focus on practicing for the upcoming audition. He could still win that.

…Right?

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><p><em><strong>Notes: <strong>__I really wanted to write a story highlighting the rivalry that Otoya and Tokiya have, but I had such a hard time thinking of what kind of story to write. I also wanted to write a horror-esque story, but still retain some humor. So, this story was born! It's kind of a random story, so expect random updates!  
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_I also decided to awesomely use the characters' given names in the narrative. Otherwise I would probably start being inconsistent and refer to them by family name half the time and given name the other half. Same with honorifics-I've cut them out for simplicity's sake.  
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